IRS Changes Deductions For Tax Year 2009

Earlier this month the U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced tax changes effective for tax year 2009 (so for tax returns filed in early 2010).

Personally, I think some of these would have been nice to use for this tax year, but perhaps one should be grateful for the breaks one gets.

Here they are:

The value of each personal and dependency exemption, available to most taxpayers, is $3,650, up $150 from 2008.

The new standard deduction is $11,400 for married couples filing a joint return (up $500), $5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separately (up $250) and $8,350 for heads of household (up $350). Nearly two out of three taxpayers take the standard deduction, rather than itemizing deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.

Tax-bracket thresholds increase for each filing status. For a married couple filing a joint return, for example, the taxable-income threshold separating the 15-percent bracket from the 25-percent bracket is $67,900, up from $65,100 in 2008.

The maximum earned income tax credit for low and moderate income workers and working families with two or more children is $5,028, up from $4,824. The income limit for the credit for joint return filers with two or more children is $43,415, up from $41,646.